In recent years, there has been an increased demand from the defense sector for an improved rocket launching capability from locations in various parts of the world, particularly for reconstituting military satellites that have been disabled by enemy action.
In military operations, the location and the speed of a rocket launch are oftentimes critical, whether the purpose of the launch is to deliver a warhead or for satellite reconstitution. It is frequently desirable to launch such rockets from within the vast regions covered by the oceans, and hence the need for a suitable system for the storing and launching of rockets particularly from deep parts of the ocean, such as at ocean depths of 10,000 feet and greater.
One type of known underwater weapon system uses an elongate outer container buried or partially buried in an upright position on the seabed of the floor of a body of water. Such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,395,952 and 4,586,421 to Hickey. In the earlier of the two patents, pumps on either end of the container move silt, gravel, etc., from the bed of the sea so that the container can be buried or partially buried. The container is raised from its buried position by reverse operation of the pump at a time when the weapon is to be activated. In both patent disclosures, an inner container houses the weapon as a self-propelled device with guidance means. Ejection of the weapon from the container is accomplished by pressurized gas or from a chemical generating means, such as an explosive device. However, such a system has drawbacks in that it requires the use of rotary displacement equipment or pump means on the container for displacing the sand or silt on the bottom of the sea so that the container can become partially buried in an upright position in the seabed, as well as equipment to accomplish the selfpropulsion of the weapon through the water.
There has also been proposed the use of a highly buoyant mine anchored in deep water which when released from the anchor travels upwardly in the water towards a target, with the buoyancy of the mine being used as the upwardly propelling force. Deployment is from an aircraft, from the torpedo tube of a submarine, or from a surface vessel. The maximum operating depth, however, is only on the order of 500 fathoms. An anchor and sufficient cable is paid out so that the mine is maintained in a vertical position a predetermined distance from the bottom of the ocean and the target-seeking mine uses guidance controls in conjunction with listening circuitry to detect the presence of a moving ship or submarine. A tracking circuit guides the mine toward the target ship once it is released from the anchor. However, such a system, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,333 to Lampton, is limited by its operational depth while also involving complex mechanisms in a system that operates solely underwater.
For above-water launching from a submerged position, it is known, for example, to use an outer capsule having an inner chamber, with a separate nose section and a fin connected to a tail section of the outer capsule. The inner chamber contains a supporting ring affixed to the inner wall of the chamber that supports the rocket. The nose section, fastened to the capsule's main body, is released by a detachable connector activated by an electrically detonated explosive device that allows for ejection of the rocket from the capsule. Deployment of the rocket-containing capsule is made underwater from a submarine, with buoyant forces then acting to cause the capsule to rise to the surface. A sensor, such as a hydrostatic switch or a double integrating accelerometer, activates an automatic launch of the rocket when the capsule reaches the surface of the water. This type system, though, offers no capability for storage underwater and requires manpower for release of the capsule in the launch area.
Another type of underwater rocket launching system is described in the patent to Lehmann, U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,411, in which a capsule, placed in the water by a submarine or by a surface vessel, hovers in the water. At the time of launch, the capsule floats to the surface where the rocket is ejected by compressed air. A prominent feature of the hovering system is the positive or negative buoyancy that it provides by means of an automatic adjustment of the ballast to maintain the capsule at a predetermined hovering depth. The hovering feature, however, has drawbacks in that it limits the effective time duration in which the system can be stored underwater, and also reduces the position control of the capsule that can be affected by various underwater currents and other movements.
Various ancillary devices have also been developed in connection with underwater launches. For example, in the area of release mechanisms, soluble linkage strips are known where the timed dissolvement from the water of linkage strips of gelatinous material serves as a release to cause buoyant objects to rise to the surface. Such a release is as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,807.
Also in underwater launch systems it is known to use damping plates to control the up and down movement of a rocket engine in water. In the patent to Draim, U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,979, for instance, a rocket igniter and damping plate assembly is described in connection with a rocket in water operating in a floatable upright position. The rocket contains a rocket engine having a circular plate mounted on the bottom of the engine extending beyond the sides of the rocket to dampen the up and down movement as the rocket floats in the water. The damping plate is expelled from the rocket engine at the time of launch when a rubber or plastic bag on the assembly is ruptured by gases generated by the rocket engine when it is fired.
Although known systems such as those described above are suitable for the releasing of underwater mines or capsules and in providing an above surface launch capability, they have drawbacks in meeting the need for a deep submergence rocket and capsule having a long-term storage capability that is releasable upon command to provide a surface launch of the rocket. Some proposed solutions that use underwater capsules also require additional equipment or mechanisms that only add to the complexity of the system, and hence impose a greater cost burden as well as the need for maintenance to guard against malfunctioning.